The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas, Monday, December 30, 2024

Luke 2, 36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Today’s Gospel Reading picks up after St. Luke had described the aged Simeon finding the Infant Jesus with his parents in the Temple on the occasion of his dedication, as Mary’s first-born.

Anna had probably married in her fourteenth or fifteenth year and was married only seven years, making her a very young widow.  She would have been taken in by other members of her husband’s family but did not marry again.  This could only have been a deliberate choice on her part.  Her behavior indicates a mystery.  St. Luke may show us the reason for it when he tells us that the devout Simeon, “had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord” (Luke 2, 26).  So it seems Anna had remained unmarried after her husband died in order to dedicate herself for the day when she would see the long-promised Savior.  Her lengthy widowhood may also have served as a sign of how Almighty God had ceased to raise up prophets to speak to Israel since the death of Malachi some four hundred years before.

Curiously, for a person who makes so brief an appearance in his Gospel, Luke provides very specific details about her: her father’s name, her tribal membership, and the years of her marriage and widowhood.  Luke, writing for Greek Christians, is assuring them that this event is no myth but solid historical fact.  And that he includes it in his Gospel after he has already described the much more dramatic encounter of Simeon with the Infant, confirms for us that he will omit nothing that he deems of any importance.  His accounts of Simeon and Anna comes from information Luke could have received only from the Blessed Virgin Mary, since no other witnesses would have remained.  Luke may have met Mary in Jerusalem, where she stayed with the Apostle John for a few years, or in Ephesus, where John made his base for preaching in Asia Minor.  We must stand in wonder, imagining St. Luke listening to the Mother of God describing the Annunciation to him, then the Birth of her Son, the visit of the shepherds, and the day she and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple for the dedication.

“She gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.”  The Holy Spirit guided her into the Temple courtyard where the dedications were made.  There would have been a number of them, with families coming from all over Galilee and Judea, each waiting its turn.  From all these, Anna saw the One for whom she had waited.  She did not adore in silence.  She raised her voice in thanksgiving and quoted the old Prophets who had foreseen his coming and the redemption he would wrought. 

Anna and Simeon spent most of their lives waiting for the Lord Jesus and then rejoiced when he came.  How they would have rejoiced to be able to receive him in the Blessed Sacrament every day!

The Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholics celebrate Anna’s feast on February 3.